Saving Centsably: Benefits to cleaning out the inbox

If you have ever attended one of my workshops, you know that I encourage attendees to create a coupon-only email address. This email address -- from a free site such as Yahoo, Hotmail, Gmail, etc. -- should be the place where you receive all coupon offers and newsletters about couponing, and where you register your membership to online savings groups.

In fact, I use the coupon-only email address to provide my information to photo companies and other places where I might shop online.

Every once in a while, it becomes apparent to me that I need to unsubscribe from some of these emails. There comes a point when I realize I am consistently just deleting the emails without reading them. At that point, the information I am receiving is worthless. If I no longer take the time to read it, I feel I also no longer need to continue receiving the emails.

Most companies make it easy for customers to subscribe and unsubscribe from their informative emails. The next time you decide you would rather just delete the email than read it, ask yourself if it is time to unsubscribe.

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To unsubscribe from most of the emails we receive on a regular basis, simply open the email and scroll to the bottom. You should find a fine print paragraph offering you the opportunity to unsubscribe. In many cases, simply clicking the word “unsubscribe” will eliminate you receiving these emails.

Sometimes, you will have to indicate to the company which of their emails you would rather no longer receive. And sometimes, you will need to “log in” to the system by which you subscribed to those emails in the first place. You have to enter your user name and password in order to unsubscribe.

Once you have unsubscribed, most companies will promise you will no longer receive any of their emails within a week or so. Other than the obvious benefit of clearing out your email inbox, are there other benefits to unsubscribing? Of course there are!

Many companies offer one-time coupons when new customers register to receive their email newsletters and offers. In fact, probably one of the reasons you signed up with all those companies in the first place was to receive a special coupon or offer.

Unsubscribing for a period of time gives you the opportunity to be ready to take advantage of a special offer when one comes along.

In review, if you are receiving all your couponing emails at your regular inbox, quit that immediately by unsubscribing. Create a coupon-only, savings-only email address using a free email service. If you already have a coupon-only email address, take a few minutes each day to rid yourself -- and your inbox -- of that unwanted junk mail.

You will be relieved to be rid of some of that inbox clutter, and eventually, when a good offer comes back around, your wallet will be happy, too!